A series of loud explosions were heard across Beirut in the early hours of Monday, shortly after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing a barrage of missiles into Israel from Lebanon overnight, prompting Israel to launch a wide-reaching retaliation.
Israeli strikes reportedly targeted three locations in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, including sites in Haret Hreik and the Jamous neighbourhood.
It comes following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday.
In a statement, Hezbollah said it had launched advanced missiles and a swarm of drones at an Israeli missile defence site south of Haifa.
The Israeli army said it had intercepted one rocket fired at the northern part of the country from Lebanon, while others landed in open areas. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The rocket attack is “revenge for the blood of the Supreme Leader of the Muslims, Ali Khamenei”, the Hezbollah statement said.
It is the first time Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israel since a November 2024 ceasefire. Although Israel has carried out near-daily strikes on Lebanon since then and continues to occupy at least five military positions on Lebanese territory, the group has largely refrained from responding.
The Iran-backed group, severely depleted from its last war with Israel, had previously signalled restraint in the event of a broader confrontation. But it had also indicated that any attack on Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be a red line for them.
Mr Khamenei was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Saturday.
“The resistance leadership has always affirmed that the continuation of Israeli aggression and the assassination of our leaders, youth, and people gives us the right to defend ourselves and respond at the appropriate time and place,” the statement said.
“This response constitutes legitimate defence, and it is the responsibility of the relevant officials and parties to put an end to the Israeli-American aggression against Lebanon.”
The Israeli army said it had begun striking Hezbollah targets across Lebanon “in response to Hezbollah’s projectile fire, saying it will “operate against Hezbollah’s decision to join the campaign” and is prepared for an “all-fronts scenario and for combating any threats”.
Motorway traffic from southern Lebanon towards the north was blocked as thousands of residents fled the volatile border area.
In Beirut’s densely populated southern suburb of Dahiyeh, residents rushed into cars seeking safer areas. Local media also reported Israeli strikes in several villages in south Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the rocket attacks from south Lebanon an “irresponsible and suspicious act hat endangers Lebanon’s security and safety and gives Israel pretexts to continue its attacks on it”.
“We will not allow the country to be dragged into new adventures, and we will take all necessary measures to stop the perpetrators and protect the Lebanese people,” he said in a statement on X.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in January that the group would not be “neutral” in the event of a regional war – but stopped short of committing to military intervention.
Lebanon had maintained an uneasy calm since war erupted, largely due to Hezbollah’s relative quiet in the two days after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader and ignited a regional war.
